Record-controlled sound-reproducing instrument



Sept. 26 1,944. EMDE v 2,358,917

RECORD-CONTROLLED SOUND-REPRODUCLIG INSTRUMENT Filed April 30, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1' IN VEN TOR,

KURT EMDE A TTY.

"lDE

' Sept. 26, 1944.

RECORD-CONTROLLED SOUND-REPRODUC ING INSTRUMENT Filed April 30, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet '2 KURT EMDE Patented Sept. 26,1944

umrso STATES PATENT orrics RECORD-CONTROLLED SOUND-REPRODUC- me INSTRUMENT Kurt Enide, Itasca, IlL, assi'gnor to Zenith Radio a Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of II I linois Application April 80, 1941, Serial No. 391,081

3 Claims.

' vided with a lid which must be raised to obtain access to the record supporting mechanism. In lieu of housing such mechanism adjacent the top of the cabinet and obtaining access to it by raising a lid or other cover which is usually a repository for miscellaneous articles, it" has been proposed to house it in a drawer which can be partially withdrawn from the cabinet. This last named arrangement has obvious disadvantages, among which are increased costs of the cabinet producing instrument, or a radio-phonograph, novel means for obtaining ready and convenient access to the record supporting mechanism.

Another object of the presentinvention is to prom'de movable means of novel form for bringing a record supporting mechanism into a convenient position for loading and unloading.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a radio-phonograph combination in which all of the component parts thereof. are arranged for convenient operation with substantially no structure, inaccessibility of certain-of the parts,

unless the drawer is at least as long as the depth of the housing, anda fixed level of the drawer when it is withdrawn to afford access to the record support has been proposed in which swinging movement is obtained by hinging a portion of one wall of the cabinet. The disadvantage's'of this'arrangement are obvious if the portion of decrease in the operating efilciency of any one of these components.

A still further object of the, present invention is to provide a device for a record supporting mechanism; whereby said mechanism may be moved from an enclosure to an elevated position outside of the enclosure. b

A still furtherobject of the present invention is to provide a device for a record supporting mechanism, whereby said mechanism may be moved to an elevated position by resilient means, for affording convenient access to the mechanism.

A still further'object cfth'e present invention is to provide a device for a record supporting mechanism whereby said mechanism may, be

- moved to a convenient position under control of supporting mechanism; Also aswinging shelf the cabinet wall selected to be hinged is one which contains the loud speaker. Inasmuch as the loud speaker must, for best tone quality, be mounted upon a surface of relatively large area and the hinged portion of the wall of the cabinet must be relatively long to bring the record supporting mechanism to an accessible point, the section of the wall containing the speaker is the only portion readily available for hinging. If an' upper portion of the cabinet is selected to be hinged, the radio receiver must then be placed in an awkward position within the cabinet so that its controls are relatively inaccessible. vention has for its aim toeliminate all of the' disadvantages inherent in means known to the prior art for obtaining access to a record playingor recording mechanism. This aim is accomplished by providing a swingable motor board which'is mounted in a novel manner in the housing or cabinet enclosing theapparatus and for which a novel operating means is provided.

This -in- 7 Theprimary object of the present invention,

therefore. is to provide" in a recording and re- 'novel control means.

' A still further object of the present invention i to provide a device for a record supporting mechanism whereby said mechanism may be moved to a convenient position under control of novel control means operable by the hand or foot of a person desiring access to the record support ing mechanism.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide novel means for checking the movement of a movable member substantially without shock to the parts carried by the movable member. v

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a movable record supporting mecha- :nism which is swingable from one level to a more accessible level with respect to the top of the closure housing'the apparatus.

A still further object or the present invention is to provide a combined radio-phonograph instrument of the chair side type housed in a cabinet in which the controls of the radio set and the record playing mechanism are accessible to a person seated-in 'a chair'placed alongsideof the instrument.

.A still further object .of thepresent invention is to provide a combined radio-phonograph instrument of the chair side type housed in a ent pickup device cabinet in which the record supporting mechanism is movable in a novel manner to a position outside of the cabinet under control of a person seated in a chair placed alongside of the instrument.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a combined radio-phonograph instrument of the chair side type in which a novel device is provided for moving a record supporting mechanism into and from positions within and out of the cabinet of said instrument, movement of this device being controlled by but-- radio-phonograph embodying the present invention, and

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the instrument of Figure 1.

Referring now, to the drawings, the invention is shown installed in the cabinet 9| of an in strument of the chair side type. The instrument is particularly adapted to be'positioned alongside of a chair, davenport, or other piece of furniture in the manner of an ordinary end table or the like so that the controls 92 of a radio set 93 mounted in the cabinet are conveniently accessible to a person seated in the chair. the record playing device, and recording device if one is provided, are'also readily accessible to a person seated in a chair alongside of the instrument. The cabinet also houses a loud speaker 94 and a record supporting mechanism 96. The loud speaker is preferably so mounted that it may be readily moved from one side of the cabinet to the other depending on the location of the chair or other piece of furniture with respect to the instrument. good tone quality whether the chair isplaced on one side or the other of the instrument. The

record supporting mechanism 96 comprises the,

usual turntable 91, driven by the motor 98, and if desired, the record feeding mechanism 99. A pickup device |0I cooperates with the record on the-turntable 91, and a recording\devic'e may be provided if desired for the purpose of recording sound on a record blank on the turntable 91. The mechanism 96 comprises a motor board I 03, and suitable flexible connecting cables I48 and I49 are connected to the motor 98 and the The motor board I03 and the mechanism 96 carried thereupon are suspended from angle brackets I00 mounted on rails I02 adjacent to the top I04 of the cabinet by a pair of front link members I06 and I01, and a pair of rear link members- I08 and I09. The link members I01 and I09. which support one side of the motor board I03, are pivotally connected at H0 and III to the bracket I00. The link members I06 and I08 are pivotally connected'to a similar bracket I00 carried in a similar manner by the other rail |02.. If desired, theradio set may be secured, as shown, to a partition H1 in the cabinet. The remaining ends of link members I01 and I09 are pivoted to the motor board I03 at the points 8 and H9, and the link members I06 and I00 are pivoted to the motor board I03 at the points By the novel means to be described.

This provides for,

I2I, one of the latter being concealed in Figure 1' of the drawings by the cabinet wall.

Record-supporting mechanism 96 may be retained in either of its two positions by means of springs I23 which act on an arm I26 secured to the link I09. The spring I24 acts on a like arm I26 (not shown) on the link I08. The springs .I23 are connected to a rod I29 which extends between and is connected to the arms I26 on the links I08 and I09. The remaining ends of the springs I23 and I24 are connected to projections I32 on the brackets I00. This provides a balanced spring arrangement which exerts equal force on each side of the motor board. A single spring may be used if desired. However, the constructions and arrangement employing two springs is preferred.

Record-supporting mechanism 96 may be moved to its position outside of the cabinet 9| and substantially above the top I 04 thereof upon operation of a push button I33. The push button I33 is shown at the preferred location, protruding above the top of the cabinet. The body portion of the push button slides in an aperture in the top I04 of the cabinet 9|. The end of the .body portion of the push button is positioned to rest against the rod I29. Upon exertion of pressure on the exposed end of the button, the links I08 and I09 are moved in a counter-clockwise direction to move the mechanism 96 forward, or toward the right as viewed in Figure 2' of the drawings. When the springs I23 pass the pivot points of the links I08 and I09, they .serve to move the mechanism forwardly and upwardly toward the position outside of the cabinet. Inthe course of this movement, the

links I06 and I01 frictionally engage the buffer springs I36, one of which is shown in the drawings. The buffer springs I36 are both alike, and therefore only one will be described, it being understood that the description applies equally well to the other. The spring I36 is a relatively long, flat, flexible member secured to a side of the cabinet 9| by suitable means such as the screws or bolts I4I. A portion between the ends of the spring members I36 is curved outwardly as, shown in order to engage the links I 06 and I01 with increasing friction as the record-supporting mechanism 96 moves toward its position outside of the cabinet 9|. The effect of the curved portion of the arms I36 serves to bring the mechanism to a stop at the end of its travel without disturbing the parts associated therewith. The link members may, if desired, be oilset as at I43 between their ends, so that transmission of vibration from the cabinet 9| to the motor board I03, or vice versa, may be thereby minimized. v

The cabinet is closed by a panel I45 secured to the motor board I03. The end of the cabinet may be provided with a panel or door I46 hinged at I40 which carriesan open ended box I41, designed to hold records.

In operation of the device, the mechanism 96 may be supplied with a recordor records when it is in its elevated position outside of the cabinet. When it is desired to obtain access to the mechanism 96, the push button I33 is depressed, thereby moving the motor board against the force of the springs I23. As the springs pass the point of pivotal connection of the links a the springs I23 and the retarding'action of the "buffer spring members I36 are so proportioned that.the motor board I03 with the record-supporting mechanism 96 comes to rest at a definite and desired point. The mechanism may be conveniently returned to its position inside of the cabinet 9| by moving it against the force of the springs I23 until the springs pass the point of pivotal connection of the links, whereupon the springs will act to move the motor board to its position inside of the cabinet SI. It is to be noted that the mechanism 96 will operate in a normal manner in either position of the motor board I03 and that this mechanism may be of any desired type and need not be specially designed for use with the supporting arrangement of this invention.

While the invention has been described and explained in detail in connection with a preferred embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that the invention may be embodied in other forms and, therefore, the invention is not limited except as indicated by the terms and scope of the appended claims. 1

The invention claimed is:

1. The combination, in a supporting table having a swinging support arranged to swing said table into and out of an enclosure, of means associated with the swinging support for said table for resiliently forcing said table into said enclosure on one side of an overcenter point and toward an extreme position out of said enclosure on the other side of said overcenter point, and manually operable means for forcing the first said means past said overcenter point to a position in which the first said means operates to force said table toward said extreme position out of said enclosure.

2. The combination, with a casing and a supporting table-having swinging supports pivoted thereto and to said casing and arranged to swing said table into and out of said casing, of means associated with the swinging supports for said ta'ble acting to influence the vmovement of said table into said casing on one side of an over-v center point and toward an extreme position out of said casing on the other side of said overcenter point, and a manually operable plunger extending through a wall of said casing acting upon operation to move the swinging supports for said table against the influence of said means and thereby move said table from it'sposition within said casing and to force said means past said overcenter point whereupon the influence of said means upon said table is to move it toward its extreme position out of said casing.

3. The combination, with a. casing and a supporting table having swinging supports pivoted thereto and to said casing and arrangedto swing said table into and out of'said casing, of means attached to the swinging supports for said table and movable with the movement thereof past an ing on the other side of said overcenter point, and

a manually operable plunger extending through a wall of said casing acting upon operation to move the swinging supports for said table against the influence of said means and thereby move said table from its position within said casing and to force said means past said overcenter point whereupon the influence of said means upon said table is to move it toward its extreme position out of said casing.

KURT EMDE. 

